Marianna Rothen

E.k.t.i.n. is a series of photographs taken during the making of ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’, a film written and directed by Gregory Perano. Shot entirely in the landscape of southern N.S.W. Australia, mostly during the dawn and dusk hours, the photographs chronicle the isolatedness of these landscapes and the characters that inhabit them. Ghostly figures shrouded in mist blur the lines of what is real and the imaginary.

Directors note:

EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE (named after the Neil Young song of the same name) is a low budget feature that was filmed in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia, although it was filmed in such a way that it could be one of many countries.

It is a surreal tale about four eccentric characters, the ghost of a Ship's Captain, and a mysterious girl trapped in the world between this life and the next, the observer of the whole scenario. The four people could possibly be ghosts themselves, or perhaps the last four people on earth. The four eccentrics carry on their lives with a spirit and a spark that lights up the world they exist in. Observed by the girl, they set about creating a world of performance, celebrating the history of the world in verse and action which they will perform to themselves in several venues, including the derelict hall in a nearby town. Along the way they encounter the ghost of the Captain, who is condemned to walk a river path for eternity, as he took his own life. He appears to one of the women, the most unbalanced of the quartet, who also befriends the girl.

At films end, there is one last performance, after which the unbalanced woman and the girl head off into the ether. The three remaining members of the quartet, having completed their role on Earth, are taken off into the next world by the Captain, freed from his purgatory to perform such a task.